After Su Rongqing's words, Li Ming was completely relieved and nodded, saying, "Since Minister Su also said so, let Minister Pei review the case. Draft an order."
After Li Ming finished speaking, he asked someone to draft an imperial decree to summon Pei Liming to investigate the case.
The person to investigate was chosen. Xie Lanqing looked extremely bad. Li Ming waved his hand and said, "Take him away."
At this time, Xie Lanqing finally reacted. He fell to Li Ming's feet and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, I am innocent. Your Majesty, there must be someone behind this. Bring the clean water over and test it again! Test it again!"
"Drag him out."
Li Ming waved his hand, and the guards on both sides rushed in and dragged Xie Lanqing out.
Xie Lanqing was wailing and kicking all the way, not showing any signs of being seriously injured.
After Xie Lanqing was dragged out, Lu Feibai still stood there in a daze, looking at the bowl of water mixed with blood. When the guards came forward to pull him away, he finally came to his senses, swung his arms, turned around and strode out: "I'll go by myself."
After Lu Feibai left, Li Ming seemed a little tired. He waved his hand and said, "I am a little tired. You all can go down. Pei Wenxuan stay. I have a few words to tell you."
After hearing this, everyone bowed respectfully and left one after another.
Li Rong followed the crowd out. She wiped her tears, her eyes red, and retreated to the corridor outside Yu's study, then stopped.
Shangguan Ya walked over to Li Rong and asked, "Your Highness, are you waiting for your consort?"
"Hmm." Li Rong sniffed, as if she had just calmed down. Shangguan Ya sighed, "Your Highness has so many grievances in your heart without saying anything, which makes me feel really distressed. In the future, Your Highness should communicate with me more and don't carry everything by yourself."
"You're right." Li Rong smiled, "You go back first."
Shangguan Yajin nodded, glanced at the people who were still talking around her, and thinking that there were too many people and it would be noisy, she finally bowed and left.
When the people around her finished talking and almost dispersed, Li Rong felt a cold breeze blowing on her face. She slowly calmed down her expression, stood on the corridor, and looked at the courtyard quietly.
After a while, someone stood beside her. Li Rong didn't say anything, and the other person didn't say anything either. After a long time, Su Rongqing's voice rang slowly: "Your Highness's actions today were beyond my expectations."
"Lord Su's actions today were beyond my expectations."
"Your Highness, what do you think I will not do?"
Su Rongqing was not far from her, but not close either, just an arm's length away, which seemed to be the distance he used to keep from her in the past.
Li Rong noticed the distance and was a little dazed. She collected her thoughts and said calmly, "I thought Lord Su would not give in on Xie Lanqing's case."
"He assassinated Your Highness," Su Rongqing said calmly, "I will not cover up for him."
Li Rong responded softly. After a long while, Su Rongqing asked again, "Your Highness, why do you want to build an inspection department?"
"For the country, for the people, for justice." Li Rong replied calmly, and because of the speed, it showed a bit of carelessness. The dead branches in the yard next to him seemed to condense into frost in the wind. Su Rongqing stared at the ice and snow on the branches quietly. He whispered: "Your Highness, is it justice in your heart to be an enemy of the aristocratic family?"
Li Rong paused for a moment when asked this question. Su Rongqing lowered his eyes and said in a steady voice, "Even if there are termites in the aristocratic families, they are also the foundation of Daxia. If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. If the foundation of Daxia is shaken for a few termites, if the war breaks out again, the wind and rain will be raging. Where will the country, justice and justice in your heart be?"
Li Rong looked at the courtyard without saying a word. Su Rongqing turned to look at Li Rong and said, "Your Highness, are you living well after marrying Pei Wenxuan?"
"Of course I'm doing well."
Li Rong smiled and said, "The Prince Consort is a very good person."
"That's good."
Su Rongqing looked at Li Rong and said gently, "When Your Highness gets married, I have a small wish. I hope that Your Highness's relationship will not involve power and will be clean and pure, leaving Your Highness with no regrets."
When Li Rong heard this, she turned around in surprise. She heard Pei Wenxuan and his attendants saying goodbye from the door.
"Thank you, Master Fu, for seeing me off. I will be leaving now."
"Go slowly, Prince Consort."
Pei Wenxuan finished speaking, and the sound of footsteps approached. Li Rong stared at Su Rongqing in a daze. Su Rongqing turned his head and said, "I am relieved to hear that Your Highness is doing well. Su Lin will write a letter to retire and return home tomorrow. Your Highness, please give more consideration to your future actions."
After saying this, without waiting for Pei Wenxuan to arrive, Su Rongqing bowed respectfully, turned around and walked away.
Pei Wenxuan saw Li Rong watching Su Rongqing leave. He paused for a moment, then walked behind Li Rong, clasped his hands in his sleeves, leaned over, and said with a smile, "Wow, you're really engrossed."
"Has Father finished talking to you?"
Li Rong turned to look at him, then withdrew her gaze and asked with a smile, "What did you say?"
"So what did His Highness and Lord Su say just now?"
Pei Wenxuan walked up to Li Rong and said slowly, "I see Your Highness seems very emotional. What moved you?"
"You're right," Li Rong nodded, tapping her palm with her fan, sighing, and said with emotion, "He did tell me something very important, and it moved me deeply. I couldn't help but have some more thoughts about him."
"Don't you think enough about him?"
Pei Wenxuan sneered: "What more do you need? Just put the people in charge, but it's hard work for Master Su."
"Why does it make him suffer if he holds you dear to my heart?" Li Rong raised her eyebrows.
Pei Wenxuan shook his head and sighed, as if he was sympathizing: "The spot at the tip of your heart is so small, if you want to stand on it, you'll have to stand on your own. If your left leg gets tired, you'll switch to your right leg, and if your right leg gets tired, you'll switch to your left leg. Do you think Lord Su won't get tired?"
Li Rong almost laughed out loud when she heard this, but she still held back her smile and said slowly, "That's indeed too tiring. It seems that Master Pei can't do such a tiring job. Let's give it to someone else."
"That's wrong," Pei Wenxuan said immediately, "Your Highness doesn't understand me. Standing on my own is my unique skill. If Your Highness is willing, I can stand on one leg at the top of your heart for the rest of my life."
Li Rong couldn't help laughing when she heard this. Pei Wenxuan didn't want to fight with her, so he just asked, "What did Su Rongqing say to you?"
"He said Su Lin will retire and return home tomorrow."
"What does he mean?" Pei Wenxuan frowned. Li Rong tapped her palm with her fan and said slowly, "He is trying to make peace with me and let me trust their own way of handling things. He told me that the aristocratic families are the foundation of Daxia and should not be touched rashly. Stability is more important than the pursuit of absolute justice."
Pei Wenxuan said nothing. Li Rong turned to look at him and asked, "What did the emperor say?"
"He asked me about the details of the assassination and the capabilities of my cousin."
Li Rong nodded: "Minister Pei has taken over Xie Lanqing's case. After the case is over, he should also take over the Ministry of Justice. It will be much easier for us to handle our work then."
Pei Wenxuan responded. Li Rong walked down the corridor. Pei Wenxuan saw that she had been silent for a long time and couldn't help but ask, "What are you thinking about, Your Highness?"
"I was thinking," Li Rong raised her eyes, "Do you think Su Rongqing is a little too weird?"
"Your Highness, what do you think is strange about him?"
"At the beginning of this life, he told me that he wanted to secretly join the crown prince, but the Su family has always been neutral. He wanted to use me to join the crown prince, which was a bit rash."
"Maybe he is still young," Pei Wenxuan said calmly, "He thinks that Su Ronghua was accused of being the teacher of King Su, and this incident affected the neutral position of the Su family, so he decided to use this to balance the Su family's position?"
"But he never did that in his previous life."
"Or maybe he did it, and you don't know it?" Pei Wenxuan said slowly, "After all, after the Crown Prince was deposed, the Su family was the first to turn against the Crown Prince, wasn't it?"
Li Rong tapped her palms lightly with her fan, and then said, "So he is now..."
"The biggest reason why he assists the Crown Prince is that the Crown Prince is the legitimate son of the Empress. Now that the Inspection Department has violated the interests of many families, he will naturally not support it."
Li Rong didn't say anything, Pei Wenxuan continued: "And he discussed marriage with you in Beiyan Tower because he found out the impact of marriage on you. You married a poor family, so he established the Supervision Department. The Supervision Department is in your hands, and you are unwilling to let go. Then for the aristocratic family, they will either expel you from the capital, or leave you as a trouble."
"If you are expelled from the capital, the prince will inevitably resent you. The Su family's position is most likely that they do not want to disrupt the current situation. They hope that the prince and the noble families will work together to prevent Concubine Rou from taking advantage of the opportunity. But if you are left behind, you hold the Supervisory Department, which has too much control over the noble families. The only way is to marry you while you are in danger."
"Your Highness is a princess, but Your Highness is, after all, a woman."
Pei Wenxuan raised his eyes and looked at Li Rong: "To the outside world, Your Highness is the monarch, but if you have a husband, if your husband does not protect you, the so-called yin and yang of husband and wife can overwhelm Your Highness."
Li Rong was silent for a long time, then she smiled bitterly: "Now that you put it that way, Su Rongqing's thoughts are really a bit disgusting."
"This is what the Su family thought, so they were willing to take the risk of being suspected and allow her to marry His Highness." Pei Wenxuan said in a flat voice, "But he is not."
Li Rong turned to look at Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan's expression showed no emotion. Li Rong couldn't help but ask, "What does he think?"
"What is he thinking?" Pei Wenxuan turned to look at Li Rong. "Your Highness, don't you know?"
Li Rong chuckled after hearing this: "I don't know."
"I may have overestimated myself," Li Rong turned around, walked ahead, and said slowly, "I often feel that person likes me at a certain moment. Then I will be uneasy and excited, and sometimes I even think about how to refuse. Sometimes I don't want to refuse, but when I see that the other party is hesitant, I take the initiative once or twice, and finally find that I am indeed overthinking."
"So many times, I don't know whether what I think is true or false."
Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong's back as she walked in front of him. He watched calmly for a long time, then slowly said, "What your Highness feels is true."
Li Rong paused and looked back at Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan smiled and said, "I just told lies to that person of Your Highness. Some of the lies were because he didn't know his own heart, and some of the lies were because he couldn't respond to Your Highness's feelings."
Li Rong stared at Pei Wenxuan quietly for a long time, then she laughed: "Don't you hate him? Why do you always speak for him?"
"It's true that I dislike him, but I can't discredit him for that."
Pei Wenxuan couldn't help but sigh as he spoke: "In fact, sometimes I feel sorry that only you and I are back."
"What else?"
Li Rong raised her eyebrows, a little curious: "What do you want?"
"If he really comes back," Pei Wenxuan's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness, "revenge if there is revenge, and grievance if there is grievance. It depends on each person's means. It's a pity that the one he is facing now is a young kid," Pei Wenxuan said with some regret, "and his calculations have lost his status."
"pity."